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Definition of "monasticism" [mo•nas•ti•cism]

  • The monastic life or system, especially as practiced in a monastery. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "monasticism" in a sentence
  • "Early Irish monasticism is usually associated with its rigour and has been known to be compared to the tradition of the Egyptian Desert Fathers."
  • "I wish that Mr. Montefiore had expanded his book a little some of his most interesting bits are relegated to footnotes, and told us something about the origins of the synagogue and of monasticism, which is essential to the story of Jerusalem, but clearly a non-Jewish phenomenon."
  • "JOSEPH KOTERSKI, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: I suspect that what he's doing is thinking all the way back to St. Benedict, who was a 6th century individual, who's the founder of Western monasticism, that is the beginning of monasteries in Europe."